My Last Day

I got a card and a $30 gift card from staff/management, which I think is really nice. And unexpected.

Today was my last day of work before I am on maternity leave. Fuck yes!!

Four boys came in, apparently on bikes, and one had their bike stolen. I saw nothing and I felt terrible. A friend of theirs recognized the bike being driven by the perp and took it back. The cops were called, but they arrived a half hour later and didn't make a report. (Maybe this is the hood).

While ringing up a woman probably not that much younger than myself, I started smelling what I thought might be really bad pot ( hey, it's been awhile). She asked me if she smelled kind of like skunk. Her dog just got sprayed. I told her she did.

I watched my manager put his hand on an unknown child's shoulder as he was walking by. Creepy. The kid looked weirded out .

Me, the new guy, and manager got out 25 minutes late.

Almost Done Here

An older lady, whom I've seen before, asked how I was doing standing all day. She has never inquired about my well-being before. She said in Russia, where she is from, the preggos (my wording) get 2 months before their due date and one year off after. It is unbelievable to me that the good ole' U.S of A. doesn't have maternal and prenatal care like that. I guess we enjoy guilting our workers and making folks work till they die. She hesitated at my register and then noticed the customer behind her and said,
"Next time."

I shared my tragic news with a fellow couponer: I washed a high-value store coupon in my washing machine. I had forgotten to take it out of my uniform pocket. She had the appropriate response.

We were really busy today. And I got three customers who were very difficult:
1) The Russain woman who can't speak enough English to understand me when I tell her how to use her Link card.
2) The Indian family who can't do math, based on how much stuff they needed me to put back. They let their toddler eat 2 Dum-Dums while checking out, then all 5 of them took swigs out of the warm 2 liter they bought.
3) The 2 youngish kids, early high school, who couldn't get their Link to work. I had to void out their order and re-ring. They weren't annoying, they just held up my line.

Feels weird to say "tomorow is my last day."

China, Those Bastards

Late in the evening a regular of mine came in. We chatted for awhile and commiserated about being pregnant. She said when she was pregnant she asked her husband for a backrub almost everyday for two months. And he said she didn't need it. She cried and he went to sleep. I told her about Sunday night wherein my hubs smacked my foot and I cried and then I cried while watching Law and Order.  (FYI, he rubbed my feet). She quietly asked if I was worried I wouldn't love the second kid as much. Yes, I am worried. She said she was too, and she was glad I had those fears too. And then she said I shouldn't be worried, because as soon as her next one was born, she loved it.

My ankle hurts. I think I pulled something.

My manager is a mumbler. And he called me two names I did not like.

The Halloween Candy

We put the Halloween candy up on the supers today. It seems a little early to me.

Both my coworkers left early. Why are they allowed to do that?

A regular saw me in the aisle and said,
"Oh my goodness! You're pregnant!"
"Yup."
"When are you due?"
"August 18th. Or whenever."
"Oh my goodness! How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good. Except my feet are swollen and my back hurts."
"Oh well, you know you shouldn't buy new shoes right now."
"Yeah, I wasn't going to because they are so swollen."
"Your feet will never be the same ."
"My feet shrunk back down after my first pregnancy."
"What?! This is your second baby? How old is the first one?"
"Yeah, you saw me during the first pregnancy. My oldest is 19 months."
"Really?! I thought you were in high school."
Right on.

I was in Cosmetics tonight.

We're Almost Done Here

The guy who was supposed to be in Photo showed up two hours late. And he leaves two hours early because he takes public transportation. When he came in, I think he was buzzed. Listen here, I know you gave your two weeks, but really? Really? Makes it hard for me to work with him.

We were super busy. I rung up a woman who was using coupons either very well or kind of suspiciously. She was annoyed when I made sure her items weren't  travel size. But then she said she would rate my customer service well on the receipt survey.

The coupons I was going to use last night were still in the parking lot when I got to work. I made my new fave co-worker take my wet coupons. Obviously he is a team player.

Kids In A Cart

I look over and there are 3 kids, maybe six or seven years old, who are all in the same cart. Unattended. In the front of the store. Their mom is shopping while on the phone, while wearing a tight tee and short-shorts.

A young guy came to my register and he seemed mildly disoriented. I suggested it might be because he was wearing a sweatshirt and it is 80 degrees outside.

I try not to judge, but when someone buys Red Bull, condoms, and boil ointment all together, I do.

The Vault

I had a customer who was having a hard time functioning. She had me ring up and void several items. She is the reason why I had so much overstock .

I feel icky. If I feel this way before work tomorrow, I'm calling off.

Lay's has a few new flavors. Cappuccino is one of them. So is Mango Salda, Bacon Mac N Cheese, and Wasabi and Ginger .

Yellow Screens

My screen at the register turns yellow sometimes. It gets darker yellow, later. Sometimes it turns a greenish hue.

I forgot my work shirt! I could have sworn I put it in the car...but when I got to work I realized  forgot my shirt and my sweater. I had to wear a too-small pharmacy tech shirt. Ridiculous.

I was five minutes late. Which is totally annoying.

I'm on vaycay!

Male Extreme Couponers

Male Extreme Couponers are pretty rare. But tonight I rung up two sets of two of them. The first set were Indian guys buying Centrum. Their total was $224 and then I swiped the in-store coupon and brought it down to about $136. They had about 15 manufacturer coupons, which I took because they has an equal number of coupons and items. They paid with two store gift cards. Then one of the guys put $300 on a store gift card. It made me a little suspicious, but maybe that was part of his budget plan.

The second set of two were also Indian, and they got the Dasani water, which was on sale, baby wipes, toilet paper, and one jug of mouthwash. He kept talking about a total he wanted to hit. I swiped two Pampers coupons before I realized he wasn't actually purchasing that item . He wanted me to use a Cottenelle wipe dispenser coupon on toilet paper and I told him no. He also didn't realize that if one uses a coupon received from an item one is purchasing, that coupon will not print out again. This stressed him out a great deal. He redeemed 40,000 points, which got him $50 off. Also, he had a stand- up accordian binder which held his alphabetized coupons. I have a Trapper-Keeper.

Beauty

An older woman and younger woman came to my register. Possibly mother-daughter. They had a big order and while I was beeping away the older woman said to me,
"Wow. You are beautiful."
"Oh thank you. Right on."
"You should be on some kind of poster of beautiful pregnant women."
Looking back, that seems like kind of a weird thing to say, but I very much appreciated the sentiment so I said,
"Oh! That is so nice."

An older woman (70ish) wanted to buy some Bonine, and she needed to run to the car to get some more money. When she returned, she said she was buying it because she has been dizzy all day. I immediately sympathized with her. She asked if I have ever experienced that and I told her about the few times I have. And about my sister, who used to suffer a lot from dizziness. We talked briefly about how awful it is,  (she seemed glad to be talking to someone who understood) and then about her osteoporosis. She mentioned she was from Chicago but lives in Toronto, which is why she doesn't have a rewards card .

I noticed a few shifts I was trying to get rid of have been crossed out. And the new girl's name is written in. I am hopeful .

The Canadian

I rung up a guy who seemed like he had an English accent. He asked for cigarettes (Marlboro lights) and when I ID'd him I found out he is Canadian! He mentioned that he normally pays almost $20 for a pack. I reminded him that a $20 got him snacks and smokes. He asked his friend, who lives here, if I could accept tips. (I cannot). He left some of his change anyway, so I jokingly asked if thats how he tips. They came back a few minutes later, and I asked
"What happened?"
He asked if we had a grapefruit... And he held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. I had no idea what he wanted until he said something about blunts. I told we don't sell singles and I sent them to another store.
He called me ' love' and said 'cheers'. Very nice.

Tags

The new girl was at the Register and I was in Cos. She seemed alarmed by this. The manager gave me tags to do; I had to make them, and put them up. Everytime I try to make tags, I always face adversity. This time was no different. First, many of my items didn't scan. Then I put the wrong paper in the printer. Then it took me a long time to put them up. Bummer.

I rung up the new lady and she behaved just like a regular customer, it was astounding. Before she used her Rewards card, she starts fussing about the price.
"Type in your Rewards card." I said.
"I don't have it with me."
"So type in the phone number", I said, somewhat dumbfounded. Hadn't she been doing this all day?  She typed it in, and I rung her up under her brother's name, with the employee discount added on. Before doing so, I had to wait for her to grab several items seperately (grab one thing, rush to the register, rush away to grab another ) like we are on some Grocery Grab N Go game show.

I did not finish all my tags. It is what it is.

Toilet Paper Showdown

A customer told me he probably would buy toilet paper for his house, but he has decided not to. Because his teenage girls are almost grown, and they use up all the paper and don't buy any. He was heading to a hotel and his girls think he was heading home. With toilet paper.

The manager I have never closed with (maybe once) was closing. We got out on time.

What Is Happening?

My co-worker is being transferred for a variety of personal reasons.

We got a new manager, who seems pretty hip. But he's never done a WIC check.

I actually let a younger woman touch my belly. Weird. But I also told her being pregnant is like swallowing a sack of ferrets.

I Might Have To Choke You Out

I was so salty for the first hour or so...too many customers were bad listeners. And my feet are swollen.

I got "paid" for my purchase today. I got candy, tea, toilet paper, and baking soda. And with my coupons I paid $1.39. Then I got a $1.50 coupon back.

Before I came in to work, I called my boss to tell him I wouldn't be able to cover the shift tomorrow night. When I checked the schedule, I was alarmed to find my name on that shift. I was very upset. I felt ignored and pressured. I texted my boss to tell him I wasn't coming in. So there.

Mustard Gas

I cleaned the bathroom with the company toilet cleaner and Comet. Then there was a weird smell. And I thought I might be poisoning us all.

This asshole customer came in looking for the "body spray powder from Michael Jackson". It took me a while to understand what the fuck he was asking for, and every wrong answer I gave him the more rude he became. What he was actually looking for was Gold Bond body spray. By Shaquille.

My co-worker called in to say he was in jail and/or police custody so he couldn't come in.

Fourth Of July

We weren't as busy as I expected. But the night felt super-long. As does my work week.

My co-worker came in 6 hours late and drunk! He didn't have his work shirt. And he was a mess.

There was about an hour or so when it felt like 'anything goes'. My co-worker was drunk, my customers were in a good mood, and there wasn't a lot of supervision. But then I remembered that in a corporate setting, nothing goes. And there is always a camera on us.

July Third

We were WAY busier than I thought we would be. There was a lull from about 5-7 then it got kinda crazy.

I went on lunch and about two minutes into it, my least favorite co-worker came in and ate his chips really loud. It seemed like he was also on lunch because he ignored the calls.

Super-Busy

We were super busy all night. I didn't get to start facing until 11:30. Then we had to stay late because we supposedly have a visit tomorrow.

Luckily I have tomorrow off.

The Big Storm

 I worked during a huge storm that darkened the sky, flooded the streets, and made the rain come down in sheets. It was intense. There was a clap of thunder that startled me .

We had extra people, which was nice. But only one of us, not me, got out early.

A Latino man came to my register, as he was putting a pad back in his pocket. He wanted to make sure he was buying the right thing. His anxiety was funny and kind of heartwarming.

I've been getting dizzy a lot today. At work.

A woman was wanting to buy formula that wasn't on her WIC check, and I rung her up for. Then I realized the price difference and then I noticed that I rung her up for the wrong formula. I already wrote the price in, and I had my manager white it out. She didn't want the  formula on her check, for some reason. Her boyfriend came in and fussed, but accomplished nothing.

It was raining lightly when we left.